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Apple Watch: Configuring Passbook & Apple Pay

On Apple Watch, the Passbook app enables you to carry essential documents and present them easily to automated scanners. If you want, you can store your boarding pass in Passbook and use Apple Watch to display this boarding pass at the gate when boarding an airplane. As to Apple Pay, this app enables you to make contactless payments using Apple Watch. You need to set up your means of payment by using the Apple Watch app on iPhone beforehand, as Apple Watch does not automatically pick up the payment cards you set up in Passbook on iPhone.

Tap Add Creditor Debit Card and then follow the prompts to add the needed card.

After adding the card, tap Verify and follow the prompts to verify the card with the provider.

If you set up multiple cards, tap Default Card and choose the default card.

History of Apple Pay

Apple announced Apple Pay at Apple’s iPhone 6 event on September 9, 2014. On the occasion, Apple CEO Tim Cook described the magnetic stripe card payment process as “outdated and vulnerable magnetic interface”, “exposed numbers”, and insecure “security codes”. The electronic giant announced an API for app developers to build Apple Pay checkout into their apps.

Apple Pay system was in preparation for “a long time”, during whic Apple acquired startups, hired executives and filed patents related to payments. To achieve the goal, Apple partnered with American Express, Mastercard and Visa. Their joint solution was a system where s ingle-use digital tokens would replace the transfer of personal information. At Visa 750 people worked on the anonymized “token” system for a year, and the other partners had similar teams in collaboration. MasterCard began work on the project in 2013 and hoped that their joint work would become a “standard for mobile payments”. The announcement of the service came at a time when MasterCard and Visa policy created strong incentives for upgrading to mobile payment-compatible point of sale systems. Apple then approached several big banks in mid 2013. To maintain secrecy, JPMorgan set up a windowless “war room” where the majority of the sensitive work was done. Of their 300 people on the project, about 100 knew that the partner was Apple. The company’s participation remained a secret leading up to its announcement.

The service initially supported US-issued payments cards. On December 17, 2015, Apple announced that it will launch Apple Pay with 15 major banks in China. In October 2015, Apple Pay vice president Jennifer Bailey confirmed that KFC, Chili’s, and Starbucks would launch Apple Pay in 2016. On March 8, 2016, ExxonMobil launched Apple Pay support within its Speedpass+ iOS app, letting customers pay for gas or car washes directly from their iPhone, eliminating the need to use the ExxonMobil’s physical NFC Speedpass keychain token at the point of transaction. On April 27, 2016, ANZ made Apple Pay available to their American Express and Visa cardholders in Australia.

On May 4, 2016, Kohl’s became the first retailer allow the use of Apple Pay with Kohl’s Charge Cards or other credit or debit cards enrolled with Apple Pay and simultaneously earn Yes2You Rewards loyalty points with a single tap using Apple Pay. J. C. Penney announced that they will be rolling out the same in the near future.

On May 10, 2016, Apple Pay was expanded the service in Canada to customers of RBC, CIBC, ATB Financial and Canadian Tire Bank. The expansion includes varying support for Visa, MasterCard, and Interac, covering most major debit and credit cards in Canada. Apple Pay was previously only available in Canada for non-bank-issued American Express cards. Apple Pay will be further expanded to TD Canada Trust, Scotiabank, and the Bank of Montreal in the “coming months” to complete the rollout across the Canada’s Big Five financial institutions.[25] Apple Pay support is also coming soon to Air Canada, Aldo, Domino’s, Pizza Pizza, Zulily, and the TTC transit system in Toronto. Additionally, the payment service is integrated into the iPhone and iPad applications for the Apple Store, Delta, Etsy, Fancy, Groupon, Kickstarter, Priceline, Starbucks, Ticketmaster, Uber, and Zara starting in June 2016. On May 19, 2016, Chime Banking initiated its support of Apple Pay. Apple Pay launched in Singapore on April 19, 2016 with American Express issued cards. On May 25, 2016, this was extended to support Visa and MasterCard credit and debit cards issued by Singapore’s five major banks, translating to about 83 percent of credit and debit cards in the country. BMO, Scotiabank, and TD Canada Trust, which make up three of the five largest banks in Canada, rolled out Apple Pay support on June 1, 2016. On June 1, 2016, KFC has announced that it now accepts Apple Pay, with nationwide adoption to be completed by the end of the summer. On June 3, 2016, Grubhub, the American leading online and mobile food-ordering and delivery platform began accepting payment from its customers using Apple Pay on its two applications; Grubhub and Seamless. The company is keeping up with its rivals in adopting the payment service as Caviar, DoorDash, and Postmates.

Apple announced at its WWDC 2016 keynote on June 13, 2016, that Apple Pay will be entering three new markets; France, Hong Kong, and Switzerland over the following months in partnerships with Visa, MasterCard, and American Express. Visa and MasterCard cards will be supported in all three markets, while American Express will also be available in Hong Kong. The specific credit, debit, and prepaid cards that can be used in each country vary depending on the participating issuers.